By DAVID ANDRIESEN, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Friday, August 22, 2008

This is the way baseball games are supposed to be. Not all of them, but at least a fair share.

A solid start from your pitcher, some timely hitting, and the closer shutting the door. Simple. But the routine victory has been tough to come by for the Mariners this season.

But Friday night they did put it all together, beating Oakland 7-5 at Safeco Field to snap a seven-game losing streak. Ryan Feierabend pitched five good innings on his 23rd birthday, the offense came back with late runs, and closer J.J. Putz collected the save -- incredibly, his first save in 2½ months.

"It's just been a rough year for everybody," said Putz, who last saved a game on June 9. "For my role, pitching in situations like that, there haven't been too many of them. It's tough."

The Mariners won for just the second time in 13 games, and they didn't make it easy, building a lead only to watch the bullpen blow it, then coming back and going ahead for good in the seventh inning.

The Mariners had been shut out in two of their previous three games, but gave Feierabend a four-run birthday gift in the fourth inning. Jose Lopez hit an RBI double and Jeff Clement a two-run double, and Miguel Cairo pushed across the fourth run with the second of back-to-back sacrifice bunts.

Feierabend, who gave up six runs and lasted just three innings in his first start of the season five days earlier, left with a 4-1 lead.

"We made the decision to get him out of there (after 93 pitches) ... wanted to make sure we sent him out on a clean note, feeling good about his performance, with a (win)," manager Jim Riggleman said. "We made the decision to get him out, and turned out it cost us some runs and made for kind of a hairy situation."

The hairiness came courtesy of reliever Sean Green, who had his worst outing of the year. Green hit the first two batters he faced, gave up a single to load the bases, and exited after five batters with two runs in, one out and two in scoring position. Green argued to stay in the game, but Riggleman wouldn't risk it.

"I thought Green was a little upset that I took him out of the game, and I was just explaining to him that this is not the time to be upset with me," the manager said. "You'd better pitch better than that if you want to stay in the game."

Cesar Jimenez gave up a two-run, go-ahead single to Cliff Pennington, the first batter he faced. The four earned runs given up tied a career high for Green, who had been charged with just four runs total in his previous 10 appearances.

But unlike too many games this season, the Mariners fought back. A Cairo double was the key hit as the Mariners manufactured a run to tie it in the sixth. In the seventh, Adrian Beltre hit a leadoff double and came home on a single up the middle by Lopez. Clement followed with a second double off the wall, collecting his third RBI.

Putz walked the leadoff man on a close call in the ninth and gave up a single, but got a double play to end it.

"It was a big relief," Putz said. "It's been a rough year, physically and mentally. I walked the leadoff hitter, and then to be able to get out of it with a ground ball was huge."

Feierabend didn't get the win -- that went to Roy Corcoran, who pitched two scoreless innings -- but he did have a night to remember.

Frank Thomas might be a future member of the Hall of Fame, but he was probably having nightmares Friday night about the young birthday boy.

The A's designated hitter went down looking with a runner on to end the first inning, then came up with the bases loaded and two out in the third and got the same result, drawing a spirited fist pump from Feierabend.

"I ended up going 3-0 and worked my way back to a full count and struck him out looking," Feierabend said. "That was definitely a huge point in the game for me and for the team, I think, momentum-wise."

In the next inning, Rajal Davis beat Feierabend for a solo homer that just sneaked inside the foul pole in the left-field corner, but that was all the damage the A's were able to do against him.

"It was definitely a happy birthday," the left-hander said. "We got a win as a team, (I) went out and pitched five good innings. We played hard and had good defensive plays and had timely hitting."

Such a simple formula. So hard to come by when things are at their worst.